Master's Theses

In order to escape increasing political violence in the Middle East and Africa, many refugees are fleeing by sea to seek asylum in Europe. As a result, Europe has witnessed the highest influx of refugees since World War Two. European Union member states have scrambled for a solution, seemingly unable to form a collective response. The reemergence of nationalism amid the arrival of thousands of refugees not only clouds Europe’s moral compass, but also weakens the EU and its founding principles. In an effort to contribute to the protection of refugees and the EU and its values, this thesis ...

No Blood In The Water: The Legal And Gender Conspiracies Against Countess Elizabeth Bathory In Historical Context, Rachael Leigh Bledsaw

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explains and discusses the conspiracies reported against the Hungarian noblewoman, Countess Elizabeth Bathory, regarding her confinement and the arrest of her accomplices in December 1610. The conspiracies state that the Countess was unjustly targeted and charged not because she was guilty of the deaths of several dozen girls from torture, but because she represented a threat to the Hapsburg Empire due to her wealth, her political influence, and her widowhood. This thesis explores the rationality of these two conspiracies using historical context regarding the position of noblewomen in Central and Eastern Europe and the function and use of ...

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

We examine the impact of ownership concentration on firm performance using panel data for firms listed on the Budapest Stock Exchange, where ownership tends to be highly concentrated and frequently involves multiple blocks. Fixed-effects estimates imply that the size of the largest block increases profitability and efficiency strongly and monotonically, but the effects of total blockholdings are much smaller and statistically insignificant. Controlling for the size of the largest block, point estimates of the marginal effects of additional blocks are negative. The results suggest that the marginal costs of concentration may outweigh the benefits when the increased concentration involves "too ...

The Determining Factors Of U.S. Humanitarian Interventions: A Case Study Of Kosovo And Syria, Elijah J. Anderson

University Honors Program Theses

In 1999, the U.S. and NATO went to war against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under the guise of a humanitarian intervention. American citizens outraged by images Kosovar refugees fleeing their homeland helped prompt this military action that eventually freed Kosovo from the grips of Yugoslavia. In 2011 Americans began to be exposed to images of Syrian war victims and refugees fleeing violence and persecution in Syria. The U.S., however, has remained militarily uninvolved in this conflict despite the mass scale of atrocities being committed by the Syrian government. Through this thesis I attempt to explain why the ...

Honors Senior Capstone Portfolio, Brooke M. Doss

Honors College Capstones and Theses

This Honors Senior Capstone Thesis seeks to present an analyze the current war between Ukraine and Russia by comparing an contrasting three countries' responses to this international crisis--Poland, France, and Germany.

2011 Global Go To Think Tanks Index Report, James G. Mcgann

TTCSP Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports

The 2011 Global Go To Think Tank Rankings marks the fifth edition of the annual report. As in previous years, the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) at the University of Pennsylvania’s International Relations Program has relied on the indexing criteria and process developed by James G. McGann for ranking think tanks around the world. The Program’s Rankings remain the first and most comprehensive ranking of the world’s top think tanks, and are based on an annual global peer and expert survey of close to 1500 scholars, policymakers, journalists, and regional and subject area experts. Given ...

Geography Of Development Of Eastern Europe, Kathryn E. Dyas

Social Sciences

The aim of this senior project is to evaluate the long-standing effects the geography of development has had on Eastern Europe since the 1900s onward. The analysis concentrates on Poland, Croatia, and Ukraine thoroughly examining the political, cultural, and geographic nature that has affected the history and development of these countries. The author outlines theories of development and how they are applicable to Eastern Europe’s continuing development. The focus of this paper is on the influence of socialism and communism, as well as the affect the European Union has had, and continues to have on Eastern Europe as a ...

A Theoretical Analysis Of The Future Of Nato, Kaj W. E. Pedersen

CMC Senior Theses

My argument about NATO’s future is a combination of both neo-realist and constructivist thought, an adaptation of both neo-realist power struggles and constructivist institutional structures. Due to a lack of a significant threat, NATO will collapse as a military alliance. However, due to the longevity of the Trans-Atlantic Relationship, the similarities in the governmental structure of its members and the history of peaceful interactions between the allies on both sides of the Atlantic, the current “security community” will remain despite the collapse of the military aspects of the Alliance. NATO has been held together through organizational inertia and shifting ...

Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union

The Holodomor: Genocide And National Identity, Nicolas D. Sawicky

Education and Human Development Master's Theses

This paper studies the Ukrainian famine of 1932-1933 known as the Holodomor. The first section of the paper includes previous research on the event and attempts to layout the different narratives of what exactly happened and more importantly, was it an act of genocide?

The second section of the paper looks at how the Holodomor is still relevant in modern Ukrainian politics as the country tries to find its own identity after gaining independence from the Soviet Union. The final section of the paper offers some online resources to help teachers educate students on the Holodomor.

University Libraries Presentations

Presented at the Lessons and Legacies conference on Holocaust Studies in November 2016, these posters document a year-long freshman FOCUS seminar held at Washington University in St. Louis in 2015-2016 that aimed to give incoming college students a sophisticated understanding of the causes, dynamics, representation, and memory of the Nazi genocide. Created and co-taught by Anika Walke and Erin McGlothlin, this intensive academic engagement featured two semesters of coursework focusing on the history and the literary and filmic representation of the Holocaust and a twelve-day trip to Germany, Poland and Lithuania. The group visited important Holocaust-related sites to deepen their ...

The Politics Of Electoral Systems In The Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia, Dardan Berisha

Indiana Journal of Constitutional Design

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (“FYROM”) experienced four major changes to its electoral system in the eight parliamentary elections held between 1990 and 2014. The Macedonian 1990 and 1994 parliamentary elections were held under a majority system, in which 120 members of the Parliament were elected from 120 constituencies, one member per constituency. A mixed-majority/proportional representation (“PR”) system was adopted for the 1998 elections, in which eighty-five seats were elected under the majority system from the constituencies, and thirty-five seats were elected proportionally from a nation-wide electoral district. Yet another system was adopted for the 2002 elections, in ...

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Minority Protection And Democratic Consolidation: The Role Of European Integration In The Republic Of Macedonia, Eltion Meka

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The purpose of this article is to take stock of the European integration literature in reference to Eastern Europe in order to better understand how international forces affect minority rights. The article will focus on the status of the Albanian minority in the case of the Republic of Macedonia and attempt to illustrate how European integration has contributed to or hindered ethnic reconciliation between the ethnic Albanian minority and Macedonian majority through a historical-sociological analysis. Additionally, by linking the protection of minority rights to democratic consolidation, this article will show how the former is largely dependent on the latter.

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

“The Agent Of Jesus Christ”: Participation Of Fr. Vitali Borovoy In The Second Vatican Council As An Observer From The Roc, Anastacia Wooden

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This is the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Russian Orthodox theologian and church diplomat Fr. Vitali Borovoy (1916-2008). He actively participated in almost all external engagements of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the second half of the twentieth century: from inter-Orthodox relations to work in the World Council of Churches (WCC). His ecumenical career unfolded during challenging times for his church. Internally, it was determined by the tension between the Soviet state’s continual persecution of the ROC and its simultaneous demand that the ROC work for the state’s benefit in external relations. Externaly, it was ...

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Bogomilism represents a spiritual manifestation, dualistic in nature, of a religious expression, and a social and philosophical orientation. The essence of Bogomilism can be followed on the basis of several key postulates, such as dualism, a specific theological and dogmatic characteristic, the support of ethical principles within their social life, and finally the political dimension of teaching the determinants which rise from the overall social and political processes in medieval times. The aim of this article is to present the historical and cultural aspects of this movement, which left visible traces in the spiritual culture of Macedonia, Balkans, and Byzantium.